Bush was at times contentious, reflective, even apologetic during his swan song with the Washington press corps.

At times, he used humor to character his tenure in the Oval Office. Dogged by persistently low approval ratings, he jokingly dismissed any suggestion that he felt had gotten some bad breaks.

"You know, it's kind of like, 'Why me? Oh, the burdens,' you know. 'Why did the financial collapse have to happen on my watch?'" he said in a mock whiny voice, winning some chuckles from reporters. "It's just pathetic, isn't it, self-pity?"

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At other times, he was vintage aggressive Bush, as when he said he was at peace with the decisions he had made.

"I don't see how I can get back home in Texas and look in the mirror and be proud of what I see if I allowed the loud voices, the loud critics to prevent me from doing what I thought was necessary to protect this country," he said.

The president is likely to deliver another farewell later this week.

Today's appearance was his first full news conference in nearly six months.

To that end, the president discussed what awaits Obama after next week's inauguration -- starting with a struggling economy.

Bush said the biggest challenge for the incoming president will remain an attack on the United States.

"The most urgent threat that he'll have to deal with and other presidents after him will have to deal with is an attack on our homeland," Bush said. "You know, I wish I could report that's not the case, but there's still an enemy out there that would like to inflict damage on America."